OK DU Windoze folks - Old software on XP? Talk to me

[Wickerman]

My house is a Windows 98 house. I am content to run 98 on my personal machine for a lot of reasons. On the computer Mrs. Lunabush and the kids use we also run 98. As an early Pentium it can barely handle it - though it is actually more stable than 95 was.

Now, the good news. Mrs. LB said she wants a new machine! Yea! No more constant troubleshooting, problems here, problems there.

Or, is this the panacea of my dreams? The machine will come loaded with Windows XP. Will we be able to run some of our old Jumpstart-type games for the kids? Any experience with backwards compatibility?


thanks in advance for your input!

Oh yeah, those of you who feel a need to tell me to go to Mac or open source - thanks in advance for your input. Its valued, it really, really is. :eyes: We are using the evil MS product for a plethora of reasons - at any rate - the decision is made.

[Kellanved]

1. some of it

"Pure" Windows software will run, others need the compatibility mode (Available by right-clicking the program icon and selecting "properties").

Dos programs are a problem; some will run, some need VDMS, some Dosbox and many won't run at all.

Edit:
Tools for running Dos programs:
- VDMS : http://ntvdm.cjb.net
- Dosbox: http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1

[Wickerman]

8. thnaks for the links

they might be useful when I sneak in and use the machine for some things I want to burn on the decent burner. I still have some DOS apps I am used to for prep for that.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Unlike Mac, windows at least doesn't screw it's customers

when it comes to backward compatibility. I've run a bunch of win95 and win98 stuff on my XP machine without a problem.

But then, I also don't play games, so I don't know how some of those would work.

But generally, unlike Mac which likes to come out with a new machine or new OS and then offer a simple "too f-ing bad for you, looks like you'll have to buy your software all over again, ha ha ha" to its customers, I'll give Microsoft one well-deserved kudo - they actually care about making sure that the new OS will run the older stuff.

(Though I will add also that it seems Mac has finally learned it's lesson, and I think now that they plan new OSes with the idea that, hey, their customers are sick of having to buy everything new all over).

[Rick Myers]

15. I've been using XP Pro at work and home for over a year

And only one old game gives me any problems. The game "Comanche 3," a helicopter sim, runs fine 98% of the time, but every once in a while it just goes dead and closes. XP stays up and running... I'm assuming there's a little bit of old 16-bit code in there that only is needed occassionally, and when it runs, the game croaks.

The rest of my software is fairly up to date, and XP is pretty darn reliable...

[Nlighten1]

3. XP will...

more than likely run your old applications without a problem. There is a user-interface learning curve with XP over 98 but it is small. I like it personally but I know how to tear it apart if I have a problem.

[Wickerman]

7. I'm hoping for little ongoing maintenance

I know, unlikely with the kids and Mrs. all banging away on the machine. I have this fantasy of setting it up, loading the software once and fixing compat problems and then being free to go back to my teeny office and watch DU all night. Hah!

[Kamika]

4. no..

Playing old games on xp is a nightmare.

There ARE programs to use to play old games, these programs works really well on some games, and doesn't work at all for others..

it's hardly plug and play anymore.

[Wickerman]

9. great, going back to the old days?

least its easier to find drivers than it used to be - hope most of it will work. We are going to keep the old machine aroudn and running. It'll be fine for the little guy when he plays Westerntown and stuff like that.

[Kamika]

17. Not really like that

Its more that there are certain programs that fools your computerinto thinking it's a very old one using windows 95 etc.

They're called abandonloader and DOSbox

[Wickerman]

19. cool, good heads up! eom

[Momof1]

5. I am not good with computers, but I just got XP

And I also have a lot of Jumpstart games...lol.
Since I upgraded the software, instead of getting a new machine, I actually had to go from 98, then load 2000, then I could put in xp.

I know that has nothing to do with your question, just a little background. Windows XP has this nice little feature under accessories called "Program Compatibility Wizard" which will help you install all of your old games.

Now there was a few problems but that Wizard thing really sort of "holds your hand, through the process"

[Wickerman]

6. cool to hear

thanks! :hi:

[BlueJazz]

10. What Brand of computer do you plan to buy?

Please tell me it's not Hp or Compaq. :)

[Wickerman]

12. Dude, we are getting a Dell

We haven't decided on specs yet - I am going to upsale a little bit - have her get a little better machine than just the price suggests. We looked at Gateway, and I thought of building one (again - like mine own), but I really want this thing to be pretty seamless for them so I think Dell, in my experience at work and such, has the best product - three years warranty to boot.

[Momof1]

11. I haven't installed all of my old games

just because, I went to XP on Jan 1st. But, as you know children really love those jumpstart games, and have a tendency to nag when they want to play them. And with those games, I have had no problem.

But I also had an expert over to do the installing of XP, and he showed me the Wizard thingy...

The best thing about XP is the users, You can set it up so the kids can't add/delete any programs, which is what caused almost all of my computer problems.

[Wickerman]

13. Oh yeah, i know that one

Any old Barbie software? We had some of that that changed backgrounds and cursors and all kinds of crap. We had this horrid pink desktop that just chugged along. I had to buy Registry Mechanic to fix the machine. That software vanished. Don't have a clue where it is! :landfill:

[Momof1]

14. No, not yet....

Luckily my little one, is almost 4. And believe it or not, she has over 10 games. Most of them Jumpstart preschool/k stuff. Which are pretty simple games. I don't even want to think about the Barbie stuff yet....

[twistedliberal]

16. Most games should work...

...but some may take a little tweaking. I have set up and maintained WinXP machines running older JumpStart-type games for Head Start centers.

Other than having to switch the compatibility modes for some of them, I also ran into some other games that actually create temporary files in the Windows folder while they are running, then delete them upon exit. This is a problem if you are not running the game as an administrator--the applications assume write-access to all directories. (And in WinXP, restricted users cannot modify the Windows directory). The workaround I used was to "trap" the files by launching the game, switching tasks (alt-tab), and finding the temporary files and making them read-only.

Not guaranteed to work, but hopefully this may be helpful...

(edited for grammar)

[Wickerman]

18. thanks!

I'm thinking this will amke sense as I start to use XP. As someone said above there is a user learning curve, huh?

[twistedliberal]

20. You're welcome and good luck...

If you're fairly comfortable with Win98, you'll catch on to XP pretty quickly....and I think you'll like it a lot more once you get the hang of it.

(unlike Windows ME. Yikes!!)

[Wickerman]

21. Ugggh WME

Visiting my computer illiterate father in law over Christmas he had a "little" problem with ME. Long story short - I had to reinstall. It shut down at least 7 time on the reinstall. What a horrid piece of crap that OS is.

Would you upgrade and existing 98 machine to XP? Is it worth the headache?